UAE households spent an average of Dh4,793 ($1,305) annually on electronics, with smartphones claiming the lion’s share in the country’s Dh14 billion ($3.81 billion) consumer electronics market, a report said.

About 92 per cent of UAE consumers made a major electronics purchase over the last 12 months, which included smartphones (68.6 per cent), followed by TVs (36.3 per cent), laptops (35.9 per cent), tablets (34.8 per cent) and camera (23.4 per cent), added the biannual Consumer Electronics (CE) survey released by Plug Ins, the multi-brand consumer electronics and IT retailer of Al-Futtaim group.

“Every six months, our survey provides useful insights about UAE consumers’ actual short-term shopping activities and future purchasing intentions as we aspire to unearth useful insights that can help us acquire a better understanding of what our customers really want in terms of service and product range,” said Sean Connor, general manager of Plug Ins.

“As customer is king, gaining access to more intimate consumer insights can potentially help shape the marketing and commercial strategies of retailers, vendors and other key stakeholders in order to further improve the overall customer experience as gadgets and electronic devices take centre stage in our modern lifestyles,” he added.

The third consecutive survey which was conducted online gathered responses from 1,974 respondents from over 50 nationalities looked at four key CE categories including smartphones, TVs, laptops and tablets and cameras.

Key findings

Smartphones

1.    About 76.2 per cent of the survey participants said they plan to purchase a smartphone in the next six months roughly 10 per cent more compared to the April 2014 survey and 15 per cent higher versus the inaugural survey held a year ago

2.    Brand and price remain the two dominant considerations driving smartphone consideration and purchase

3.    Samsung (56.1 per cent), Apple (41.8 per cent) slightly increased their market share at the expense of Blackberry which saw its slice of the market drop from 25.9 per cent in April 2014 to 20 per cent in September 2014 according to the respective Plug Ins surveys

4.    Making a phone call is still the primary reason consumers use their mobile devices followed by SMS, social media, instant messaging and email

Television

1.     Thirty-inch to 39-inch panel size leads in terms of current size of TVs owned with 51.2 per cent of the respondents followed by 34.1 per cent with 40-inch to 42-inch

2.    38.2 per cent of the survey respondents said their next panel size would be 40-inch to 42-inch and a further 33.5 per cent said they would buy the 46-inch to 50-inch panel size

3.    The primary motivator for purchasing a new TV is upgrading technology (42.1 per cent)

4.    The most appealing technological feature for consumers is the ultra HD screens mentioned at the top of the list by 51.2 per cent of the respondents

Tablets and Laptops

1.    Ownership of tablets (77 per cent) and laptops (92 per cent) remained unchanged versus the previous survey

2.    In terms of purchase intent, 57 per cent of respondents said they plan to buy a tablet, 10 per cent higher than six months ago

3.    When buying a tablet or laptop brand continues to be the biggest influencer followed by device compatibility and screen size

4.    The primary use for tablet was browsing (31 per cent), children’s entertainment (21.6 per cent) and educational (13 per cent). Primary purpose for laptops is work (48.8 per cent).

Cameras

1.    About 65 per cent of the survey participants said they plan to purchase a camera

2.    More people are splashing out on DSLR cameras with 79.3 per cent of the respondents (73.7 per cent in April 2014 and 72.6 per cent in September 2013) and there is a decline in people buying point-and-shoot 9.3 per cent (10.5 per cent in April 2014 and 12.2 per cent in September 2013) and camcorders with 11.6 per cent (15.8 per cent in April 2014 and 15.2 per cent in September 2013)

"When it comes to cameras, brand was the biggest influencer followed by price and features
Big data and analytics can help us decode these insights, contextualize them within a wider framework and touch points across our business model and leverage them for planning purposes with the ultimate goal of acquiring a better understanding of what our customers really want in terms of service and product range,” Connor added. – TradeArabia News Service